


Worst enemy

by xaidyl



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Attacks, Attempted Rape, Blood, Bullying, Dragons, Exclusion, Fights, Fires, Minor Character Death, hatred against races, sibling stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-19 16:38:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7369441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xaidyl/pseuds/xaidyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vax'ildan. Vex'ahlia. Fitting into society's in the first place is difficult. Fitting into one when you are different and unwanted is much harder. The twins happen to be in that situation, half elves being tossed between humans and elves like garbage.</p>
<p>The story of the twins and their family before Vox Machina.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worst enemy

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm kinda new to the whole Crit Role fanfic writing thing, but anyway, here's basically a load of angst for you guys to read. Because angst twins.

Fitting into both Human and Elven civilisations is difficult for half elves. Neither one nor the other, excluded, cordoned away like a disease. Fitting into Human society was equally difficult for Vex'ahlia amd Vax'ildan. Pointed ears and long dark hair made them stick out like a sore thumb, especially along with the groups of dull faced, plain looking humans.

Their mother was Human, of course. If their mother was half Elven, they would have lived with half Elves, and everything would have been okay. Their mother was, however, Human, and therefore they lived in a Human house, on a Human street. The houses was not pleasant, but it functioned, for the little money they had. Food was scarce for everybody there, especially for a family with a single mother and two small twins.

They were ten years old when the trouble really began. Surprisingly, it was Vex who started it. She was the smaller twin, the youngest but the more socially confident. Her brother preferred to stay inside, and if he did go onto the streets he would hide from almost everyone he saw, speaking to nobody, just as their mother had told them to. But Vex was different.

There was a group of older kids who stood on the corner of their street. The twins and her mother had been out shopping one late summer morning when had their first encounter, as they walked past, hand in hand. The moment that Vex had sworn them as her worst enemy.

"Elven scum!"

Elven scum. It wasn't that she was upset that they were referring to her, but the fact they were also speaking about her brother. Her brother who was anything but scum. The girl sat thinking about it whilst eating dinner, sat down opposite Vax, sipping at a thin stew.

"Doesn't it make you feel bad?" She asked, midway through sticking the wooden spoon in her mouth.

"What?"

"Those mean boys."

Vax raised his eyebrows. "Which mean boys?"

"The ones that shouted at us on the way home."

"Mummy said not to worry about them." The half elf stirred the liquid in his bowl.

Vex frowned. "But they were mean to us?" The small ten year old swung her legs, kicking the wooden table.

"Please don't get into trouble Stubby."

 

Vex ignored what her brother said. She sat that night in their bed long after Vax had fallen asleep, his soft snores filling the room as the daylight faded. Their mother would stay out late, needing to work through the night, and look after after her children when she could. She didn't need to be cursed at in the streets.

With childhood determination, and love for her family, she decided to do something about those boys. They couldn't get away with saying something like that about her kin. Not about the ones she loved. She would have to deal with the boys the next day.

The girl lay down next to her brother, pulling the thin brown blanket up to her neck, thinking through the confrontation in her head.

  
She woke in the morning, still with purpose clouding her mind. Vax was curled into her side, hugging her tightly. She gently shoved him off, and rolled out of bed. Their mother was asleep on her bed, still wearing the clothes she wore the day before. Vex pulled on her dress and socks, the wandered into the kitchen, waiting for her brother to wake up.

The sun was cresting over the houses, light pouring into the windows that they couldn't afford curtains for. She managed to go fetch the water from the communal well before a sleepy Vax wandered into the room, blanket wrapped around his shoulders, bare feet padding lightly on the wooden floor.

"You're up early." He yawned after speaking, and sat down on one of the stools. "And you're dressed. Why?"

"I've got things to do. Have we got any breakfast?" Vex stood up on the table and started looking through the one cupboard they had.

"I don't know. I don't think mummy gets paid till next week."

"Oh. Well that doesn't matter. Do you want to wash? I got some water."

Vax shifted his stool towards her. "Okay. What are we going to do today?"

"I've got plans." She smirked.

"You're not still worrying about those mean boys, are you?" Vax sighed after not receiving an answer. "Fine, go ahead. Mothers going to be angry."

"I don't care," Vex mumbled. "Those boys were mean."   
  
Vax sighed again, said nothing, then went back to their usual routine, and started plaiting his sisters hair.

 

The half elf girl strode out into the streets around noon, when it was at its busiest. The only other half elf in the town sat against a street corner, hiding his face as he watched with worry. Vex did not notice him there as she walked up, anger imprinted on her face, up to the street corner. Arms swinging by her side, small legs loud as they stomped over cobbles.

She was noticed by the boys immediately, their calls echoing through her ears.

"Cross breed"

"Inhuman"

"Daddy didn't want you"

"Eleven scum"

Their calls just fuelled her anger more, she continued walking until she was up to face them.

 

It was at that point it appeared to Vex that she may have not thought her plan through. Stood up next to the tallest and largest of the boys, the ten year old girl barely reached his chest.

"What do you want, baby elf?"

"I'm not a baby." Vex growled, her voice shaking a little.

"Not got your mummy here to protect you? Or your shit face brother?"

That was it. Nobody talked about her brother in that way. Especially not idiot boys. Vex squared herself up, then delivered one hard punch into his stomach.

"You're the scum. You're the shit face. Leave us alone. You don't-" Vex'ahlia started screaming as the boy reeled back in shock.

The other boys were clenching their fists, circling around the half elven girl. Vex suddenly became very scared about what what about to happen next, and aware that it was going to be very painful.

"You need to know not to mess with us, scum."

The first hit hurt a lot, straight to her face, just underneath the eye. The second was into her chest, and hurt just as much. One to the leg, another to her head, flurries off punches pressed her to the ground, hurting in a pain more than she had ever experienced, her fragile frame pummelled with the fists and feet.

Until they stopped.

 

"Get off my sister you idiots!"   
  
All the boys turned round to look at the tiny half elf who spoke.

"Oh you've made a mistake too, little shit."

Vex looked up just in time to see a punch headed towards her brother, her heart almost stopping until she watched him dart out of the way with grace and dexterity. Feeling blood drip down from her nose, the half elven girl crawled backwards, away from the boys, and lay against a wall, tears starting to stream down her face, without her really noticing them.

She watched her brother as not one of their punches hit him, and he carried on shouting back at them, cursing in a way she had never seen before. Vax never made an attempt to hit back at them, just kept them aiming at him, distracting them from his sister until a large enough crowd built up for somebody to break up what looked like a group of teenagers beating up a small boy.

 

The boys slowly dissipated, and very soon after so did the crowd, leaving Vax and Vex alone in the street together.

"I thought I said don't get into trouble?" Vax mumbled, kneeling down next to his sister and helping her up onto her feet. Vex sniffed and wiped her nose, a smudge of blood staining her sleeve. "Are you hurt?"

The girl nodded.

"Come on then. We'll go find mummy, she'll help."

Vex sheepishly sat up, her whole body aching. "I'm sorry." She mumbled through the tears that pooled down her face. "I didn't mean to get into a fight, I just wanted to show them that we weren't to be mean to."

"It's okay stubby I understand." The boy pressed a kiss to his sisters temple, then supported her as the hobbled back to their house. "Let's stick together though, when we do stuff like that."

"Those boys are my worst enemies."

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
It was around a month later when the twins had to leave their home. Their mother had said it was so they could go to school with their father, and so she could work at her new job. The twins, at this point knew there were more reasons than those. Firstly, people had started talking. They didn't want the half elves that had caused the 'trouble' to be living in the town. Secondly, which Vex was more aware of than ever, their mother did not have enough money to provide for them. Their father did, simple as that.

This did mean, however, that the twins had to move to live with elves. Fitting into Elven society was difficult for Vex'ahlia and Vax'ildan. Fist of all, their father did not want the two ten year olds to be there. He ignored them, other than when he was organising their studies, or when they got into trouble. Other than that they were invisible to him.

This time, the trouble started as soon as they got there. They were different, they knew that. But the other kids were quick to exclude them, quick to keep the, within the confines of the building. Vax and Vex were allowed no friends, therefore remained in their building, bigger and grander than anything they had been used to.

They spent three years living like that, taking their studies, and keeping to themselves. Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia had nothing but each other. But they didn't need anything more.

However, there were occasions where they had to head out. Wander the streets. For their lessons, to buy sweets, books, all luxuries they could only have dreamed of a few years back. The adults were friendly enough, at least to the faces of the half elves. The whispers behind their backs were not a secret as one would have hoped.

"Stealing our resources"

"Bastards"

" He'll be rid of them soon enough"

But it was the children who made it worse. The other children that peaked the effect of. If Vax and Vex had ever thought that they were excluded before, they were wrong. The young elves didn't care. They would shout anything, right at the twins.

"Impure blood"

"Loners"

"Don't go near them, you'll catch it"

 

But it wasn't that that made Vax crack. Vax'ildan was 15 years old before he finally gave up, finally decided not to ignore it anymore.

"At least the girl's pretty, you know what I'd do to her?"

  
"Vex did you hear that?"

"Hear what darling?" Vex looked up from the coin purse from which she was counting.

"No matter."

It was definitely a matter. Who was that Elven boy to say that about his sister? Vax made sure to get a good look at his smug face and piercing eyes before he continued walking, jogging to catch up with Vex.

 

  
His next lesson involved the use of his blades, the only class that Vax was ever glad to go to. Vex left and went out into the forest to practice her archery, so he was left by himself, in one of the training rooms.

"Fucking asshole." Spat the half elf as he flung a dagger, the blade making purchase straight through the straw dummy's head. "Thinks he can say what he wants. All the fucking kids thing that." Another dagger flicked forward, this one landing in its stomach with a satisfying crack sound.

"Yeah. Fucking take that. I'll do that to you. All of you." He shouted, pointing wildly as if they were standing in front of him. "I will take your eyes out." He screamed running forward and kicking the dummy over, not even stopping to pull out the embedded knives.

Vax'ildan couldn't understand why nobody would just accept them, let them be a part of the community. They were not that different, they had done nothing wrong, caused no trouble. Why couldn't they find anyone that loved them for who they were?

Despite this, Vax did not want to hurt the boy in question. He didn't want to hurt the children of the town, he was not a violent person. But they were sure bringing him close. Maybe a couple of punches would teach them to keep away from his sister. Maybe bringing one of his daggers along wouldn't be such a bad idea.

The half Elven boy bent down and drew the dagger out of the straw, flicking it round his wrist then into his belt with great skill. It was there for protection, and protection only, he noted. The first point of call was to talk to them, persuade them to leave them alone, stop the hatred.

 

  
That evening was cool, but pleasant for it was late spring, and the sun was still visible in the sky as the twins headed out down the softly glowing streets.

"What did you want again Vax?" Vex asked, still unsure as to why they were headed out, and why at this time.

Vax kept walking. "I need to find somebody." He growled. "And I need to teach them a lesson."

"And I'm coming along because?"

"If I recall correctly I never asked you to follow, you insisted."

"Never mind. I'll watch you 'teach your lesson' to this mysterious person." Vex held up her fingers in quotation marks as she spoke, the tone of her voice jokey.

Her brother stopped and turned around. "Look, Vex, I'm just going to talk to this one boy, it's really not that entertaining." His voice was low and full of anger and impatience.

"Okay, good, whatever. Have a nice time, brother." Vex laughed, and continued walking.

  
Unsurprisingly, the boy was still sat outside, in a spot just meters away from where he was before. Same boy, long blond hair, blue eyes, same smug look on his face. On his lap was a petite Elven girl, and a number of other teenagers surrounded him.

"Stay here." Vax whispered to his twin, then without waiting for her reaction, walked straight around the corner and into their sight.

"Oh look whose here. Wanna join the party? Where's you're bitch sister?" The blonde Elf shouted down.

"Doesn't matter where his sister is, I'd fuck him any day as well." Another boy screamed across. "Maybe we could get some use out of him then."

"Eh, pretty human boy bastard. Get your ass over here. Or are you too scared?"

Vax turned around and signalled for Vex to turn away. "I'll shout if I need you." He mouthed to her, before slowly pacing towards the group.

  
"What do you want?" He smiled, but with no friendliness in his face. "I'm here, what do you want?"

"Nice to see the bastard out of his cage." One of the various teenagers spoke out. Looking at them now they were all around the age of the twins, if a little older, and there was around nine or ten of them.

"I want to talk with you." Vax spat.

"Oh do you? Well why not come a little closer then, half blood?"

Vax slowly paced forward. "I don't like what you said about my sister."

"Why not? She deserves it. Bitch."

"Don't talk about her like that."

The boy became aware that the other kids had started circling him, one was now slowly pushing him forward, down into the alley way behind the leader. The rest of the elves followed.

"What? Bitch?" Vax felt a hand on his shoulder. "Or maybe that's you?"

Suddenly Vax was thrown back, pinned sharing the alley wall across his throat by one of the stronger looking teenagers.

"Get the fuck off me." He growled as the blond boy moved forward. Vax instinctively reached a hand into his belt, removing the dagger with nobody noticing, then pressing it, along with his arm, behind his back.

"I don't think I will. Maybe you do have a use after all, human."

The blond boy pressed a hand to Vax's crotch, then unclasped the belt. Vax was paralysed in shock, unable to move as the elder boy slipped his hand down behind the fabric and in between Vax's legs and started-

Vax pulled back quickly, as much as he could with the arm across his leg, then slashed the blade across the hand of the blond boy. The elf reeled back in pain, clutching his hand. Vex was nowhere to be seen, the half elf was glad she hadn't followed but really wished she was there to help at that moment.

"Fuck! Human bastard has a fucking knife." The bleeding boy screamed. "Fucking show him what's what, show him he doesn't deserve to mess with us."

Quickly, the arms on Vax's neck became a lot tighter, and he was pinned back fully once again against the wall. Between sharp inhales he managed to shout out a weak "Vex!" before he realised what was happening.

A sharp, white hot pain plunged into his stomach, causing him to bend over and topple, only being supported by the others holding him up, pining him back. He did not scream, did not make a sound as the blade similar to the one he had used was twisted, slowly at an agonising pace, as his vision started to dot and blur with darkness, and the only sound in his ears was a high pitched ringing.

  
It could have been seconds, it could have been minutes, before the group dispersed, running into the shadows like a pack of rats, and Vax fell down to the floor with a thump, curled up in a ball, hands pressed around the knife still embedded in his torso. He did not notice the tears that started to run down his cheeks, or the thin line of blood that ran from between his lips.

 

  
"Vex. Vex please." He coughed out, voice barely a whisper as a shadow formed above him.

"Hey- What the-" the female half elf bent down so she was level with her brother, knees on the alley floor. "Shit- Shit. You're bleeding-"

"They had a knife." Vax sniffed, shaking as he looked up at his sister. "He-"

Vex shushed him, and ripped off her cloak. "Right hold this to your stomach. Shit. Hold still. You're shaking."

"Cold."

"Oh, I know darling. Am I going to have to carry you brother?"

Vax watched as his sister fumbled around, and spoke something to him, yet he couldn't work out what he said, her lips blurry and the sound muffled by the ringing.

"What?" He mumbled, confused.

"Never mind, I'm going to pick you up, okay?" Vex pulled him round, realising she wasn't going to get an answer.

"Hurts."

"I'm gonna take you back to our house, can you hear me? Shit. Vax?" The girl pulled her twin brother round, holding him to her chest whilst still trying to keep the fabric on his stomach. Vax dug his head into Vex's collarbone, and clasped his eyes shut as his sister began to walk, at a pace despite the fact she was clearly struggling with the weight of the boy. They traveled for about thirty seconds in silence,before the spinning feel and harsh ringing finally became to much, and Vax's head lolled backwards and his body stopped shaking.

 

  
Vex was sat down at the long table, cup of hot cocoa between her palms. It was now well past midnight, and after hours of making sure her brother was okay, and scrubbing the horrible drying blood off her hands and dress, she finally found a time to sit down. Unfortunately, that time did not last as long as she had hoped, when the door kicked down and splintered against the stone wall.

"Where is that fucking son of mine?" The dark haired Elven man growled, his face red with anger. "Girl, where is your brother?"

"Upstairs. In bed." Vex barely looked up, keeping eyes on the table.

Her father dragged a seat out and slammed himself down next to her. "Vex'ahlia, I need you to tell me what happened. Why do I have parents complaining about my son causing fights? Injured children?"

"They stabbed him." The girl growled, "I wasn't there, but they stabbed him in the stomach, and left him on the streets."

"I'll show that boy what a real stab wound is. I can't have you twins causing more trouble around here."

"You will leave him alone." Vex stated.

"I will not. He needs a lesson teaching. What would those children have done to him?"

"He's resting. Let him sleep."

"And you can go up to bed as well young lady. Don't think you're getting off easily." He scowled, grabbing the mug from her hand, and pushing her up right. "I do a lot for you, and don't deserve this, remember that Vex'ahlia. Now go, leave me alone. "

 

Vex trailed upstairs, taking one look back at her father before slinking into her brothers room. The elder twin lay in the centre of the bed, tucked neatly underneath the covers, with eyes shut. The curtains were drawn, and bandages and medicines littered the bedside table, but Vax was the only one that was within the room.

His eyes flickered open as she carefully pulled the door to, and sat down on the side of his bed.

"Hey stubby." He whispered accompanied with a large yawn.

The girl snuggled into his waist. "Don't do that. Why did you do that? We stick together. Remember?"

"You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah. But what happened? Why did they hurt you?" Vex stroked through her brothers hair, as Vax bit his lip and his face turned even paler than it was before.

"Don't you worry. They said some stuff, we got into a fight."

"And they stabbed you?"

"Yeah. One of them must have."

"Oh, darling." She hugged him tight, loosening off when the boy gave a whimper in pain. "Sorry. Vax we have to leave here. Father is convinced that this is your fault-"

"Really?"

"Yes, and those kids are just going to hurt you again. The people are going to hurt us. They don't like us." Vex sighed.

"That much I know." Vax laughed.

"Don't joke. When this-" the girl pointed to the bandages around his abdomen, "gets better and you can walk again, we leave. We go back to mother. Okay?"

"Okay. Vex?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you carry me all the way back?" Vax grinned.

"Yes. And you are very heavy."

"Or you're just weak." He laughed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now go back to sleep."

"Will you stay here?" The boy held his arms out to his sister.

Vex smiled, and pulled the blanket over herself. "Of course. If you rest."

"Good night Vex. Love you."

"Love you too, idiot."

  
Vax'ildan closed his eyes, finally warm again, the throbbing in his stomach slowly starting to recede. The soft breaths of his sister were a comfort on his shoulder, as he slipped out of consciousness for the second time that day.

Those kids had done things to him that he had never before experienced, things he didn't like, things said about him and his sister. It was decided. Those teens, these people. His worst enemy.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
The twins did leave, although it took a few weeks. By the time Vax was able to walk normally, with little physical evidence of the incident other than a red scar across his stomach. Vex spent the days stealing food and supplies, hiding them within her room, to take with her.

Of course, both of them had felt the brunt of what had happened. Their father was angry, angrier than expected. Both the twins knew that if Vax hadn't have been stabbed, their father would have done it himself. The towns people were also angry. Vax didn't go outside at all (walking was difficult, and there was a very high chance of him being attacked again,) but at the points where Vex had to, she found herself being hit by pieces of scrunched up paper, fruit, and sometimes even rocks, from a variety of people. Fortunately, she was good at avoiding that thrown at her, but was still left with bruises along her arms and legs.

They had to leave. They needed to leave. So they did.

Hidden by the darkness of night, the twins fled from the town, bow and blades in hand, and set off, not telling a soul where they were going.

"Do you think mother will remember us still?" Vex whispered when they were far enough away that no one could hear.

"Of course. She would never forget."

"And we've taken enough things from the city, we can have enough money to start a new life with her. We can start again."

Vax laughed. "Yeah. Life will be better."

"I can't wait to see her again. Oh- Vax I'm so glad. They would have killed us if we had stayed."

"Good job then. Come on, the faster we walk, the faster we'll get home. " Vax started off into a jog.

"Wait- Vax! I'm carrying the bag! Come on!"

 

They didn't go along the road, just incase their father or his men came looking for them, instead took to walking across the grass lands and through the foreststhrough the night and into the morning, cheerful to finally be away. Until they saw it.

  
Vex had better eyesight. She always had. All it meant at that moment was that she saw it first. Saw what had happened first.

There was nothing burning, nothing still aflame. But there was evidence of what was one a terrible burning, wisps of smoke and burnt out, black streets that they once used to know.

"Vax..." She whispered.

Vax, who still had a pleasant look on his face, turned to see his sisters concern. "What? What is it? We're nearly there? Look-" he turned to look round at their destination. "Oh. Shit."

"What happened? Vax. Vax?"

"I don't know. It's gone. It's all gone." Vax took off once again, this time running with panic. Vex also sprinted, almost falling down the hill.

 

Most of the buildings were destroyed, what was once their home was now a ghost town. Not a soul stood in the streets.

"Hello?" Vax shouted. "What the fuck happened here?"

"Vax..." Vex grabbed her brothers hand. "Vax, there's nobody here."

"There must be someone!"

But there wasn't. Not one person. Well, not one person that was living.

They had never seen a dead body before. So seeing so many at once was a shock. Some burnt, some torn apart, some crushed by buildings. People they recognised, all grown older than before, but still people they knew. Shop keepers, kids from the street, some old, some young.

Then one person they knew, more than any one else. Vax'ildan and Vex'ahlia saw them at the same time.

"Oh. Oh no. What- Vax? No. No no no." Vex fumbled ahead, stepping across other bodies, dragging her brother, who stood in silence behind her. Vex knelt down, and pulled the body up into her lap.

"Mother? Mummy? Vax? Vax- she's- she's"

Vax was still stood in silence. Not even looking down. Keeping his eyes locked away from the problem. He took one look at his sister, then seemed to lock up, and had to turn away, walking off silently, and disappearing into the shadows.

Vex noticed, but ignored it. "Hey, it's okay mummy, he's just not very good with things like this. It's okay." The girl tried to keep her eyes away from the massive claw mark that had almost cleaved right through her mother, as she cradled the woman that had once cradled her in her arms. "What happened mummy? What happened. Why is everything gone?"

It was eerily silent. A girl sat in the middle of a pile of human bodies,tears streaming down her face, her mother on her lap, her brother nowhere to be seen. She sat for some time, it could have been hours, not knowing what to do. She couldn't leave her mother there, but she also couldn't carry her. Vex wasn't even sure whether Vax was going to return. He did, however, some time later, holding a parchment in his hand.

"Where did you go?" Vex asked, wiping the tears from her face.

Vex bent down next to his sister. "No matter. I- er- went to our house."

"And?"

"Gone, all gone."

"Oh." It was no surprise really, but the hope that there might be a little of their old life left was keeping her going.

"But I dug a hole. A grave."

"Yeah."

"I thought we could take her there, get some flowers..."

"Sure." Vex shuffled over to her brother, leaving their mother on the ground. "What's on that paper?"

"Yeah. I found out what did this." Vax sighed, and handed the paper to his sister, "Dragon. A dragon Vex. Tore the town apart."

"Oh. And what do we do now? I mean, after we've-"

Vax pulled her into a hug. "We leave. Start again, again. Just me and you."

"And we stick together, right. Forever."

"Forever."

They knew little of what had happened. They were young, but their lives had already been destroyed so many times. And now, the only person who they had ever loved as much as they loved each other was dead. And they both thought the same thing. Ignoring everyone they had ever hated, ever feared, they now had one purpose. To kill the dragon. To rid the world of their worst enemy.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
